*OFFICIAL* M18x R1/R2 Owner's Lounge Thread

sounds like what dell would do lol, what a inefficient way of doing things, since they "cant" take out the 240 brick and replace it the 330 they had to send both, and ask you to send back the 240 lol.

reminds me of shipping the mouse/keyboard/bag and the laptop into 3 different shippings =/

btw, i see you got the 3920xm.. im jealous

 

Would this work too? Part number is different(331-2429) but...

DELL 330 Watt AC Adapter for Dell Alienware X51 Desktop / M18X Laptop : Laptop/Notebook Accessories | Dell

Edit: Modified my order with the new 330W PSU and it has the same part number I found on Dell's website I posted above. PSU will be here before the laptop. lol.

 

I've brought this up prior, but the same part number can be had for $99.99 if you just search for "331-2429". Why there are two different prices for the same item is beyond me.

Or try this link but no guarantees it comes up with the $99 one.

 

anyone tried OC 3920xm to 4.5 yet? just curious how far that cpu could go compare to 2960xm

 

not very far at the present time...

 

Hey John when you were running the 2920 es which did you have the 2.4-3.4 ghz or the 2.5-3.5ghz

 

2.4 was what ii had

 

Yeah, I don't think XM CPUs are worth the investment. I took that money and put it into moving from 7970M to 680M and an extra year of warranty. The best I could get my XM to was 44/43/43/42 - so, 4.2 GHz with all cores.

AMD Radeon HD 7970M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3920XM Processor Extreme Edition,Alienware M18xR2 score: P11413 3DMarks

You can OC the 3720QM or higher to around 4 GHz levels - so take that info to the bank, I say. (Previously Alienware limited OCing to CPUs other than XM).

 

they are...just not these ivy extreme cpus...they heat up to quick.

 

This is not Alienware or Dell that limited OCing with other CPU than XM's, this is an Intel inside CPU feature.

Actually the only way I now to Ocing other CPU than XM is to push up the PCI clock, and often is an unstable parameter, and you can rarely go best than 5% Ocing.

 

The 3720QM and 3820QM both have partially unlocked turbo multipliers, so you can overclock them as you would an XM CPU, just only to a certain limit. You can also change the turbo power draw.

 

Whooo i didn't know that.
I read many people asking for OCing CPU other than Xm and the answer was always "you cannot" but you can speed up your motherboard bus to push up your CPU.

I'm curious to know what are unlock and what is the gain you can have ?

 

I'm not sure. I think it's enough to push the 3720QM to 4.0/4.0/3.9/3.8 (1/2/3/4 cores) or something along those lines, if I remember rightly. Basically you can increase the turbo clock multipliers by 4, or something around there.

I'm not overclocking right now because there's really not any point, most games see little benefit from it.

All I've done so far is bump the max turbo power draw to 55W - so it can run at 3.4GHz 4 core turbo non-stop. That's enough for me, for the moment.

 

So all you need to do is bump the max turbo power draw to achieve sustained 3.4Ghz? Where does the 55W value come from, like how did you know 55W would let you do that? Thanks

 

Guys,

Quick question for you all. Are any of you able to use Fn/F2 combo to toggle the status of your battery from charging to charging disabled? - never been able to on my machine and I actually took it for granted that it was a function that was removed on our beasts by Dell for some reason.

Would be interested to hear if any of you have the same as me or if indeed you are able to toggle the battery on/off.

 

Stevie!! Well i was lookin over some of your comment with in other thread regardin to same question. ive just tried and it wont disable chargin but i think it not even necessary isnt it? like just throw back main switch, like ive hardly run without power supply

 

Yeah Peter, it just had me thinking for a moment - pretty sure all M18x's cant do it but I was curious to see what you guys could do with your machines....no real biggie but wanted to test it out.

 

Yeah yeah me too, testin 7970m X from a bit long time now and at end figure out its just driver!! Its like beatin horse over muddy surface XDD

 

LOL, true. Bit like floggin' a dead horse....love the avatar, btw! +rep!

 

so the 680m option is finally out on canadian alienware site and as expected its a 100 dollars more, not to mention everything seems quite a bit more expensive =/

tbh i dont think 680m sli is worth the money, doubling the cost of 7970m and performance wise its only about ~10%. i probably would have payed for it if it was 4GB so i could use for my CAD work and 3D stuff for my university, seeing its only 2GB most likely not worth the money.

anyone have a machine of 680m Sli yet? or is it not to be shipped until end of this month?

 

I doubt anyone has a AW with a 680m in it yet, maybe within the next week or so as orders will take a while to produce/ship. I'm waiting patiently to see what kinda figures they produce as all this speculation on them is driving me nuts! - don't think I've ever seen quite so many links to Notebookcheck floating about here!

 

I'm not sure if anything specifically made me think of trying 55W. Maybe because that's the TDP of the XM CPU. It definitely helps, when running OCCT the CPU peaks at about 52W - so it couldn't turbo that quick on the standard 45W turbo.

 

Yeahh my New Alienware TactX keyboard will arrive tomorrow as DST, well literally today

 

Hi just got my new m18x (will tell soon) but have a problem the keybord it is not responding at i have a feeling that it is just not cojnected and is all i have to do if pry up the keyboard and connect it

edit k i keep ot simple

1-cant figure how to get off keyboard(unscrew 5 screws at bottom) and can pry up the fron and sides of the keyboard surond thing but not the har bit near the base of the screena(not sure how i have looked up a video but it is on m18x r1 and just comes off easily also looks different

2-i have looked in the devices and it says it is connected but does not respojd at all not even te buttons in top right only touchpad and power button works(as for components it is all base spec except duel 7970ms and 3720qm)

3-the lights still work

4-it was work for a couple words at first but then it kept.pressing d so i restarted it and dident work at all( i could of possinly torned it off somehow but doubtb it)

so plz help me

 

Sorry if this has been discussed already, but what is the best place/way to purchase a 2920xm?

 

Market place. You will be looking at around 400-500 dollar range if yo ufind a good deal unless you can find yourself an ES model.

 

I don't know if this is a cause for worry so please enlighten me on this.

I noticed that a certain area on the keyboard didn't light up initially when I turned on the laptop. When I ran the AlienFX software, that's the only time it lit up properly. I think this has happened once or twice. I don't know if it's a cause for worry or I'm just too paranoid.

 

Just ordered my M18X with the following spec

CPU: 3720qm
GPU: 7970 CF
Ram: 12gb 1800 mhz??
HDD: 750 Gb 7200 rpm (Have my own SSD)
Network: Killern N
Blueray reader.
And RED ofc ^^

Total price was, 895$

 

$895 - that's gotta be a typo LOL

 

Hehe no it aint a typo, but they did take my m17xR3 in exchange.
It has a long list of breakdowns so after third time i demanded a new system.
I usualy only use nvidia but the 680m sli was around 1400$ (in sweden)
And the CF was around 400$ it was a simple choice to make.
Sure Nvidia is great, but that pricing is way above my limit.

Been worried about driver issues for the 7970m but that is a chance i am ready to take ^^
Anyway cant get worse then my m17x

 

lol your total price catch ma eyes for a bit, but on top R3 thts alright ...Now Alienware and you both will be happy

Ahh dont worry about it now, as youve just ordered it. Well there is will be a chance as official driver will be release before your new system arrives, Even 12.5 beta driver is alright...Oh yeahh Congrats buddy...

 

SOOOOO, it seems there will most likely not be 7990m due to 7970m is based on desktop 7870 and theres no further shader/cores to be unlocked and probably the same for 680-685m but theres always a chance they would jsut raise the clock/memory by a bit like they did with desktop 7970 to 7970 GHz.

on the side note, it seems there will be a 3940xm ivy mobile extreme processor, at probably at 3.0ghz, GOOD STUFF! looking forward to getting a R2 when this is relased.

"http://www.cpu-world.com/news_2012/2012062401_Intel_Pentium_G645_spotted.html" and search for 3940xm

 

Hi,
would appreciate your support on my questions before purchasing an AW M18X-R2.

First I currently have an AW M17X-R2 with 5870M CF,4 GB RAM, 256GB SSD, I7-740 CPU, BluRay DD.
Any idea what's it worth on Ebay?? Unfortunatly in Austria, Dell/AW doesn't take back old Laptops in exchange for a new one.

Now my questions on the M18X-R2:

1.) The 256GB SSD offered from AW - what type/brand is it? Is it a good one, or should a go for the cheapest HDD option and upgrade with an Intel 520 240GB SSD later. If yes is the Intel 520 the best option and is it hard to exchange the HDD with a SSD?

2.) RAM - I want to have 16GB Ram. Should I go for the AW offer (2x8GB @ 1600MHZ) or should I go for an external offer and also take the cheapest offer from AW. I want 16GB @ 2x8GB Sticks - is there a hugh difference between 1600MHZ or 1866MHZ - because AW does not offer them as 8GB Sticks?

3.) As I want to buy a new TV with Wireless HD, I also want to have the possibility to play games on the new AW M18X-R2 and "beam" them over to the TV (as an external display) - is the AW M18X-R2 capable of this, and if yes what option do I have to take - is this the Killer Wireless_N 1103 option?

4.) The price for SLI 680M is ridicoulus high in Austria but fine for me as after the AMD/ATI disaster I had and have and still exists with the 7970s Nvidia is the only option for me. As I read, the AW 680Ms only have 2GB Ram. Is this a hugh disadvantage vs. the regular 4GB version?? Do you think that there will be a 685M version too??

5.) As this new AW M18X-R2 will cost close to 5000 Euro (which are approx. 6300 US Dollar) in Austria, I don't want to invest that much money within the next 2-3 years again. So will this laptop be upgradeable on newer graphic cards in 2 years (eg. than 780s or even 880s). Because this will be my last really great investment in a gaming laptop.

6.) Do you expect a price drop within the next 2 months on the AW itself or the Nvidia 680Ms SLI or any other new technolgie (eg. newer Ivy Bridge CPUs) as this is the timeframe for my order.

What else do you recommend?? This is a hugh financial investment and I want it to be OK.

Many thanks
Best regards
Nathan

 

Unless something's changed, I believe AW uses the Samsung 830 which is a good SSD, although not the best. You may save money by putting an SSD in yourself, and yes, the upgrade is easy and you won't even need to replace the HDD - the M18x R2 has room for two 9mm tall drives and a third 7mm drive, if you ever wanted to put 3 drives in.

I don't know about prices in Aus, but it'll almost certainly be significantly cheaper for you to upgrade it yourself rather than paying Dell's extortionate RAM upgrade prices. AFAIK there's not a noticeable difference between 1600MHz and 1866MHz, but I don't know too much about it.

I'm not sure, the M18x R1 had a Wireless HD option but the R2 does not if I remember rightly. The wireless cards won't change that. But again, ask someone else, I don't know much about it.

If the quantity of VRAM is the only difference (i.e. if they have the same clock speeds and shader counts) then there will be absolutely no speed difference between the two, unless you're running at absolutely ridiculous resolutions (you should be fine with 2GB even if you're using 3 external 1080p monitors in Surround)

There may be a future 685M but the performance improvement will be minor.

The R2 will probably support the next GPU gen, maybe the gen after if we're lucky, but absolutely nothing is certain on this and 'official' support for them from Alienware is not guaranteed either. Plus, upgrading to future GPUs will be extremely expensive (I'm talking around $1500 for a pair of nVidia's top next gen cards)

It's quite possible, as with any piece of technology (or indeed pretty much any product on the market).

Firstly, make sure you get the extended warranty for however long you plan on using the laptop for. The extended warranty is expensive, but it'll pay for itself several times over if you ever need a GPU replacement for example.

Secondly, there are threads on this forum about getting discounts when you order. I'm not sure if they'd work over in Australia though, particularly given that Dell Australia is not exactly great. Alternatively you could look at getting your machine imported from the States through a reseller such as HIDEvolution, the warranty can be transferred and it may work out cheaper overall.

 

Thanks a lot for this first feedback. Just one side note - it's Austria not Australia - we have no kangaroos

 

LOL - I'm sure you have one, maybe loitering in a zoo somewhere.....

 

Just checked - yeah we have one
Parma Känguru – Tiergarten Schönbrunn
At least a New Zealand Version of it but no nativ Australian one.

 

Erm...oops

Okay, all of what I said still applies. And because it's not Australia you might get slightly better support

 

Delivery date 11/7 or 26/7 Hope i get it before the 26th going to germany for training that day, and Nürnberg ring it to far away to be à possible time spender.

Go china build faster ^^

 

Hey there guys, I was just wondering how long orders usually take from production to shipping with the M18x R2 7970xrfires. I ordered 2 weeks ago, a friend ordered 3 days after me, and his arrived today...mine is still in production as of today. The only difference between ours is that I went with the 3820 QM and he went with the 3620 QM. oh and his is red.

Can't get through to anyone who can tell me what part of production it is in, or if it's been delayed for some reason. No e-mails, either telling me of a problem, or in reply to the ones I've sent out. No phonecalls returned OR sometimes not even picked up. When I do get someone to answer they are from India, and are usually rude and pass me off as fast as possible, I did this for half an hour until I started recognizing voices again.

Not upset about the lack of it being shipped yet, more upset with the total lack of customer support going on. My Estimated Delivery Date isn't until July 9th, my friends was July 21st. Anyone ever have anything similar happen?

 

I have THREE 9.5 MM drives installed in my M18X R2 drive caddy. Two M4 SSDs and a Hitachi standard laptop hard drive. Fit's just fine (but if you want to install a 12.5MM 1TB drive, and 2 other drives they will have to be 7MM to make it all fit)

 

hehe i went for intel Core i7-3820QM 2,7GHz too , been 2 week also .. guess they did not have those in stock>?
my eastimated date is july 5th

 

It usually arrive before or on EDD, yah there may be stock issue but i dont think it stock issue otherwise Dell would contact about delay, But your system is not delayed yet... just keep checkin order status, it will shows shipped sooner

 

lol i thinking of putting in the new velocity raptor 1tb thats 15mm tall lol.. too much heat, power consumption and TALLNESS

 

Your system will most likely arrive any day now. Probably your CPU had to be ordered due to higher demand. Did you try calling 1-800-ALIENWARE? If you get Dell instead of Alienware, that may explain the issues with people you were talking to in India.

 

Hello,

My M18x R2 is still in production , i bought one with only 1 500GB hard drive , and i bought 2x vertex 3 120gb 7mm (LP) on newegg .

my question is , will i be able after receiving laptop to put the 2 ssd + the hd or i will need to order some part from dell?

i saw picture of the connector with only 2 places to put hd this is why im getting nervous ...

thank you

 

Congratulations on your new beast. What are the full system specs?

You must have looked at the picture wrong. There are 3 SATA connections for the HDD bay in the M18x R2. Look back through this thread and you will see more photos and examples. You should be good to go. You will need to put the SSD drives on the correct ports, as only 2 SATA ports are SATA 3.0 6GB/s. One of them is SATA 2.0 3GB/s. Again, this is covered in an earlier post in this thread and other threads.

 

Any recommendations for the RAM in the AW??
Which type of memory is needed?? SO-Dimm?? DDR3 I guess.

 

i've only seen 2 bay connector i swear! even the m18x r1 as 3 ? weird! lol .
thank you for your reply i will sleep better now

here are my m18x specs:
Alienware M18X R2 - Direct

8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (already have 2x4GB 1600 @home(total 16)

3rd Gen Intel Core i7-3820QM 2.7GHz

Internal High-Definition 5.1,M18X

DL DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED

CrossfireX 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7970

English Keyboard, 101 Key, M18X R2

500GB 7,200RPM SATA-II HDD

32GB mSATA caching SSD (for temp and swap space)

Intel 2230 Wireless-N

EDD: 2012-07-05 <---- can't wait ,, every morning when i wake up , my first taught is the m18x LOL

 

So I have 2 Samsung 128gb SSD in RAID 0 and the stock 500gb HDD in the caddy. I've been noticing the palm rest on the left side is getting quite warm. My concern is since heat is never good for any component, whether this will put my ssd or hdd at a great risk of dieing.